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The Operating System (OS) kernel is foundational in modern computing, especially with the proliferation of diverse computing devices. However, its development also comes with vulnerabilities that can lead to severe security breaches. Kernel…
Kernel rootkits provide adversaries with permanent high-privileged access to compromised systems and are often a key element of sophisticated attack chains. At the same time, they enable stealthy operation and are thus difficult to detect.…
The kind of malware designed to conceal malicious system resources (e.g. processes, network connections, files, etc.) is commonly referred to as a rootkit. This kind of malware represents a significant threat in contemporany systems.…
One of the most elusive types of malware in recent times that pose significant challenges in the computer security system is the kernel-level rootkits. The kernel-level rootkits can hide its presence and malicious activities by modifying…
Linux is increasingly deployed in Low Earth Orbit on commercial off the shelf systems on chip that were not designed for space radiation. Ionizing particles can trigger single event functional interrupts that crash the kernel without…
Fixing bugs in large programs is a challenging task that demands substantial time and effort. Once a bug is found, it is reported to the project maintainers, who work with the reporter to fix it and eventually close the issue. However,…
As cyber threats continue to evolve and diversify, it has become increasingly challenging to identify the root causes of security breaches that occur between periodic security assessments. This paper explores the fundamental importance of…
Code large language models (LLMs) have shown impressive capabilities on a multitude of software engineering tasks. In particular, they have demonstrated remarkable utility in the task of code repair. However, common benchmarks used to…
The correctness of the Solidity compiler is crucial for ensuring the security of smart contracts. However, the implementation complexity of its type system often introduces elusive defects. This paper presents the first systematic empirical…
Repairing system crashes discovered by kernel fuzzers like Syzkaller is a critical yet underexplored challenge in software engineering. While recent works have introduced Large Language Model (LLM) based agents for Linux kernel…
Read-Copy-Update (RCU) is widely used in the Linux kernel to manage concurrent access to shared data structures.However, improper synchronization when removing RCU protected hash table entries can lead to stale pointers, inconsistent…
Read-Copy Update (RCU) is a scalable, high-performance Linux-kernel synchronization mechanism that runs low-overhead readers concurrently with updaters. Production-quality RCU implementations for multi-core systems are decidedly…
Open-source software is increasingly reused, complicating the process of patching to repair bugs. In the case of Linux, a distinct ecosystem has formed, with Linux mainline serving as the upstream, stable or long-term-support (LTS) systems…
Although LLMs have shown promising potential in vulnerability detection, this study reveals their limitations in distinguishing between vulnerable and similar-but-benign patched code (only 0.06 - 0.14 accuracy). It shows that LLMs struggle…
Background: Despite the widespread use of automated security defect detection tools, software projects still contain many security defects that could result in serious damage. Such tools are largely context-insensitive and may not cover all…
Context: The integration of Rust into kernel development is a transformative endeavor aimed at enhancing system security and reliability by leveraging Rust's strong memory safety guarantees. Objective: We aim to find the current advances in…
Logging code plays an important role in software systems by recording key events and behaviors, which are essential for debugging and monitoring. However, insecure logging practices can inadvertently expose sensitive information or enable…
Research in cybersecurity may seem reactive, specific, ephemeral, and indeed ineffective. Despite decades of innovation in defense, even the most critical software systems turn out to be vulnerable to attacks. Time and again. Offense and…
This paper is an introductory discussion on the cause of open source software vulnerabilities, their importance in the cybersecurity ecosystem, and a selection of detection methods. A recent application security report showed 44% of…
Addressing a critical aspect of cybersecurity in online gaming, this paper systematically evaluates the extent to which kernel-level anti-cheat systems mirror the properties of rootkits, highlighting the importance of distinguishing between…